Chapter 30
Elizabeth
I wake with a sharp pain tearing through my side, as if someone is stabbing me with a knife.
I sit up and wait. It doesn’t return, but I can’t help feeling restless.
I get out of bed to put the kettle on, clicking the stove on just as the pain returns.
Sharper than the last pang. I double over, the pain making it hard to stand up straight. A rush of fear shoots through my body.
Bear barks at me with worry. I grab my phone with quivering hands and dial James’s number.
“James… something’s wrong.” I can hear his footsteps loud on the hospital floor. I can tell he is running.
“I’m sending you an ambulance, wait by the door.
They will be there in five minutes. I’ll be here waiting for you.
” I hang up the phone and attempt to pack a bag.
With every sharp pain, I double over. By the time the ambulance arrives, I am on my hands and knees in the kitchen, Bear lying protectively beside me, quietly whimpering.
With sirens on and blue lights flashing, I make it to the hospital within ten minutes of my call to James.
The hospital smells of antiseptic, bleach and quiet anxiety.
I close my eyes, trying to breathe through the pain, trying to ignore the bustle around me.
I see James sprinting towards me with two other doctors on either side of him.
He reaches for my hand and strokes my hair as they wheel me to a room.
I don’t listen to what the doctors are saying.
It sounds like they are underwater. The noise is being drowned out by the blood rushing around my head.
I can hear my own heartbeat pulsing in my ears.
I stare at the ceiling, silent, whilst the nurses place needles in my hands and insert a fluid drip into the cannula that is suddenly in my arm.
I have no recollection of how that got there.
Tears roll down my cheeks, and whilst James is talking to the doctors, he wipes them away so softly, careful not to hurt me.
I watch James, serious and confident, though a flicker of worry breaks through his professionalism.
He stands steady and strong, and not once has he let go of my hand.
Finally, I speak, interrupting James’s conversation with the doctors.
“James…” My voice is so faint that he doesn’t hear me at first. I try again, squeezing his hand. “James…” This time his head turns to look at me, questioning whether he was hearing things or whether I did just call his name or not. He bends down to get closer to me.
“Can you call Theo, please?” There is a second of hesitation, and then he nods, his hand slipping from mine. He takes my phone out of my bag and scrolls through searching for Theo’s name.
“James… is my baby ok?” My entire body is shaking as the fear takes over.
“We’re going to find out, but I promise I will do everything I can to make sure she is ok.” he replies with a confidence that I needed to hear.
On the third ring, Theo answers.
****
Theo
I’m looking out of the floor to ceiling glass wall on the 28th floor of my office in London when my phone rings. It’s 4:23am and I am waiting for my lawyer in Los Angles to call with news about my divorce. I look at the phone, seeing Elizabeth’s name scroll across my screen.
“Sunshine. Are you ok?”
“Theo, this is Dr. James Hunter.” My heart, I’m sure, stops when I hear another man’s voice on the other end of Elizabeth’s phone.
When he introduces himself, I know immediately that this is ‘The James.’ The one Elizabeth had told me about all those months ago.
I hadn’t forgotten. I had my staff do their research on him the moment I left her cottage that day. I know exactly who he is.
“Elizabeth has asked me to call you. She is in the hospital. I think it would be a good idea for you to join us.” My breathing stops; the room is spinning.
Elizabeth needs me, but I need her too. I need her to be ok.
I hang up the phone and run to the elevator.
It seems to lower at a snail’s pace. As soon as it opens, I jog to the waiting car.
“Nigel, you need to get me to the hospital in Sable. Something is wrong with Elizabeth.” I am breathless with panic. I rip my tie off and undo my top button on my shirt, laying my head on the back of the chair.
What if I’m too late?
Nigel pulls away and I know he will get me there fast. I ignore the calls coming through on my phone. I am in no state to be talking to lawyers right now.
Every time I look at my phone, it seems like time is going slowly.
The journey seems endless. Luckily, at this time of morning the motorway is clear.
People are just rising to get to their jobs.
Callum and Jack, my security are both in the car and I can feel their awkwardness.
Thankfully, they say nothing and stay silent.
I see the ocean come into view and know we are close. I turn to Callum; my head of security sat next to me.
“I need you to find her room as soon as we arrive. I don’t want a scene, and I need to get to her as quickly as possible.
When you find her, you radio through to Jack, and he will bring me in.
” Callum nods his head in agreement. We pull up outside the hospital entrance, and Callum jumps out before the car has come to a full stop.
I sit impatiently, waiting for the signal.
My legs are shaking, unable to sit still.
Anxiety vibrating through my body. Five, agonising minutes later, I hear Callum’s voice across the radio.
I’m out of the car before Jack can give me the order.
I march through the hospital, ignoring the stares.
I see people gawking at me, hear the whispers, but I don’t care. I need to get to her.
Callum is standing in a doorway in the distance.
I quicken my pace, almost jogging towards her.
I get to her door and see her tiny frame, so fragile, so fearful, and all I want to do is run to her.
The rhythmic beeps of the monitors slowly calm my racing heart.
I can see she is ok. Grey and tired, but ok. I sigh a heavy breath, full of relief.
****
Elizabeth
An hour passes, and the gentle rhythm of the machines settle down as Nellie settles, the beeps becoming white noise, and I no longer notice the nurses coming in and out. No longer feel them taking my pulse or checking the paper readings of my baby’s heartbeat.
A moment later, something shifts. I notice heavy footsteps outside my door.
There’s a commotion and deep voices filling the hallway.
I can hear my name, someone asking where I am, but I don’t recognise the voice of the man asking.
Then, standing in the doorway of my room, is a man in a white shirt and black suit.
My heart leaps when I realise it’s Theo’s head of security.
He’s here.
Relief rushes through me. He came. I watch the man say something into his jacket; I see my name cross his lips. A moment later, Theo is there. Surrounded by his security team, looking pale and worried, in his white shirt that I love so much.
He stands still in the entrance to my room, eyes filled with worry. James slowly stands from his chair next to me. It becomes obvious that Theo hadn’t seen him sat there. Theo’s gaze falls from James back to me. The only sound in the room is the machine.
“Who’s this?” Theo asks, knowing full well who he is.
“I’m the one who shows up for her.” James retorts. The room grows tense. I hear Theo take a deep breath as he steps forward. He is about to say something sharp, but I cut him off.
“Not today,” I whisper. “Please… not today.” I pat James’s hand, reassuring him it’s ok. James hesitates but knows he needs to give us time alone.
“I’ll be right outside,” he tells me. Slowly, he gets up and leaves the room. Theo moves closer to me and places one hand on my leg and the other on my swollen belly. He bends down and kisses my forehead gently.
“You scared me.” Theo finally says. “I didn’t… When I picked up your call and heard James’s voice, I thought…” I know what he wants to say. He doesn’t need to finish his sentence because I thought it too. I thought I was about to lose my baby. “I didn’t realise, Sunshine.”
“I tried to tell you, Theo, but it was hard for me. Hard to tell you that my life may be at risk. Hard to tell you that this pregnancy could become dangerous.” My eyes close as the next words leave my lips.
“I knew you’d push to get rid of her if you knew the full extent.
” He strokes his thumb up and down my leg, a comfort that I have missed.
I swallow the weight of my emotions.
“I didn’t come here to fight with him. I’m glad that you have someone to support you, but I am here now. When I saw him sitting next to you, I felt like I had truly lost you, lost everything. Like, maybe I have never been a part of this.”
“You have always been a part of this. But you’re no longer the only part of it.
” He flinches, but I don’t take it back.
He needs to know that James isn’t going anywhere.
He is my friend, and my loyalty will not ask him to leave.
Theo’s eyes go dark, and a look crosses his face that tells me he’s angry.
“I was honest with you, Theo. I asked you to leave her and made it clear that if you didn’t, we couldn’t carry on. I asked you to choose me and your baby. You couldn’t, and I understand why, but it’s hard to forget.”
Theo strokes my hair and holds my hand.
“I am here now.”
“For how long?” I don’t mean it to sound as harsh as it does, but I’m exhausted from tiptoeing around him. The silence scares me. He holds my hand, and I let him because no matter how broken things are between us, if he wants to show up for me now, I am going to let him, for our baby’s sake.
James steps back in, holding a coffee, calmness etched across his face. Theo’s hand slips from mine, and he stands as James enters. James makes his way over to me and offers me the paper cup with chamomile tea in it. I take it.
Theo’s jaw tightens. A beat passes, and then he puts his hands in his pockets and steps back. He sees the familiarity between James and me. The trust. The ease. The look that he wishes I would give him.
“You should rest,” James says softly, not asking Theo to leave in so many words, but he gets the hint.
“The doctors say that everything is stable now. You and Nellie just need time to recover and lots of rest.” He turns to Theo and I watch as James turns into Dr. Hunter.
“She was contracting this morning. We stopped the labour from continuing, but she will stay for monitoring until tomorrow.”
I nod, sinking with relief back into my pillows. I am suddenly exhausted. Theo is still standing there, and I can tell that he doesn’t want to leave. He has left me alone too often.
Finally, he strokes my hair like he used to and kisses me on the head.
“I will come back tomorrow,” he says.
I don’t reply because I am unsure whether I believe him. I have believed him too many times before. As he walks past James, he pats him on the back and stops next to him.
“Thank you for caring for her. For them both. They need you.” It takes all of Theo’s strength to get the words out, but James deserves every single one of them.
Then Theo quietly leaves.